Refrigerator-compartment.



^ y E. RICHARDSON. BEFRIGBRATOR GOMPARTMENT.

APPLIOATION FILED HAILZB, 1912.

1,056,583., Papented-Mar:18,1913. E

WIT'NESSES r To all whom z't may concern.'

ERNEST RICHARDSON, or EEAvER FALL-s, PENNSYLVANIA.

REERIeERAToR-coMEARrMENT'.

Specification ef Letters Patent. Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

Application led March 28, 1912. Serial No. 686,936.

Be it known that I, ERNEST RICHARDSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beaver Falls, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Refrigerator- Comparti-ments, of which thefollowing is a specication.

My invention relates to refrigerator compartments composed of sheet metal, preferably sheet-steel coated with enamel. It is t-he principal object to construct an L-shaped enameled sheet-metal refrigerator compaitment composed of a single unit. Heretofore, it has been customary to construct L- shaped enameled sheet-steel food-compartments in refrigerators of parts separately enameled and subsequently assembled into L-sliape, as, `for example, shown in Letters Patent No. 997,210 granted to me July 4, 1911. This method has been necessary because the forward edge of the rent-rantportion of the L-shape would sag and become twisted or warped as the result of the intense heat to which the compartment would be subjected during the baking process.

By my present invention I am enabled to bake the enamel on L-shaped steel compartments, such, for example, as shown on Figure 2, without the rentrant angle sagging or twisting.

Referring to the accompanying drawings', Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator containing one of my improved L- shaped compartments, parts being broken away. Fi 2 is a perspective view of one of the sai compartments. Ifig.v 3 is a scction on the line IIL-III, Fig. 2.

On the drawing, the compartment has the horizontal bottom l from which the vertical long side 2 and the vertical short. side 3 extend. From the top of the side 2 the top 4 extends over the 'bottom land parallel therewith for a portion only of the length thereof. neeted to the side 2 there extends downwai'dly parallel to the sides 2 and l the short side 5 which reaches the level of the top ot the lside El and' is connected thereto by the top t. 'lhe rear edges of the bottom, sides, and tops are covered with the back 7, preferably welded thereto; but the manner of connecting the back to the said edges or any of the. other contiguous parts of the sides, tops, and bottom together forms no4 part. of the .the side 5 is turned outwardly.

From the end of the top not co'n-v present invention. The back, bottom, sides,

and tops are all made from sheet-metal, suchl as, sheet-steel composed of one or more parts having their ]o1nin lends, or edges welded or otherwise secure together into asin le structure so as to withstand the heat of t e:

the rear and side horizonta -anges 10 and -the front an le piece 11 having its horizontal member ounding the front of the said central opening and its vertical member extending' downwardly. The fron-t edges of the bottom, the `sides 2 and 3, and the top 4 are turned inwardly, and the front edge of The said tianges, the flanges about the central opening in the top, the angle piece l1, and the flanges around the opening 8 all s'tiifen the parts adjacent thereto and keep them in shape during the baking process and the subsequent cooling thereof. To further stiften the lower end of the side 5 and the inner end of the top 6 where they meet to form a rentrant angle 13, I weld or other-.1"`

wise secure to their front edge and across their meeting angle the sheet metal brace 12 and I may also provide the rear edges of the .side 5 and top 6 with a brace 12. The front brace 12 is very effective since it has considerbale surface contact with the compartment as it is welded both to the vertical fiange of the angle-piece 11 and to the sembled or constructed into the L-shaped A ligure, stilte-ned and braced substantially as shown, itv is coated with enamel and then placed in a suitable/ furnace, in which the enamel is burned and made into hard glazed porcelain adherent to the sheet metal in the usual manner.

lVithout stiifening or bracing the rentrant angle 13, the angle would not keep the position it had revious to the burning process, and the si e and top 6 would become twlsted or warped, more or less distorting the top 4, the side 3, and the back 7. The braces 12 may be removed by a hack-saw or other tool previous to placing the compartment in the casing 14, 1f found necessary or advisable. The' angle piece 11 may not be desired in the finished refrigerator. In .this event it may 'be readily'removed by a hacksaw. In either event, it has,like the braces- 12,plerformed an important function.

. e open bottomed ice box 9 rests on or is supported by the flanges 10 and the angle piece 11, if retained. The top 6 consists merely of three or four marginal .fla-n es, the center being open so that the air a ter its contact with the ice in the ice-box may passin unrestricted volume around the edges leavingthe space in the food compartment and below the side 5 unrestricted, I provide 'for the circulation of the cooled air which asses down through 'the opening inclosed y the flanges 10 and the angle piece 11.

The opening S is also made large". so as to facilitate the circulation of the air.

The compartment or lining described has a vertical portion shown at the right of the ice-box in'Fig. 1, and a horizontal portion shown below the ice-box.

AOther `means of bracln and stittening the rentrant angle 13 may e devised without departing from the spirit of my invention.

An L-shaped refrigerator-compartment, comprising a horizontal bottom, an integral vertical side, a second vertical side parallel with and shorter than said first-mentioned side, an integral cover extending from the top of said first-mentioned side and of less length than said bottom, a third vertical side depending from said top and terminating in the plane of the top of said second side, and being provided with a flanged opening' near its upper end, and an integral, apertured top connecting the top of said second side and the bottom of said third side, the spacebe-` tween the bottom of said third side and the said refrigerator-compartment bottom being unobstructed, and said refrigerator-compartment being provided with means for preventing distortion thereof in the region of the meeting edges of said third side and said apertured top.

vSigned at Pittsburgh, of March, 1912.

ERNEST RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

Amon E. DUFF, ELvA S'rANIaK.

Pa.;"this 18 day 

